In the end, no matter what - you have to choose a school you can afford - and you cannot afford CC or CU.
So the tradeoff is - you go to somewhere that’s not your top but that you can afford.
You bust tail a little harder to get to where you want to be.
All that said, I’m not sure CC will get you a great outcome anyway - so that’s a double whammy - too much $$ and not great outcomes.
But life lesson - if you can’t afford to eat a steak at Flemings, you go to Outback.
Best of luck.
There are NO zero percent interest student loans. Zero percent while you are IN school? Is that what you mean? Because I assure you -those have interest when you graduate.
I’d go to ESF – it’s a decent school -and no debt is a blessing.
Can you visit ESF?
If you want more of a choice, apply to Cornell College since it’d be more affordable than ESF AND is one course at a time.
That being said, ESF is a terrific choice, especially since they have a relationship very much like the contract colleges have with Cornell University.
Their conditions for study abroad are pretty good too.
I think that SUNY ESF is a fabulous option and wouldn’t hesitate to send my kid there if it had the majors of interest (we live far from New York).
If Cornell College is of interest, it is a member of the Colleges That Change Lives association, a group of colleges that named themselves after a book by a former NY Times education editor that identified the schools as great options to consider. This profile is marketing material, but I suspect gives a good sense of the college:
You can’t afford it, sorry. Going to those schools would be financial suicide. I would suggest choosing an affordable in-state school.
$30-40k per year in debt (whether to your parents or otherwise) is generally considered to be unaffordable for undergraduate. A high debt load may limit your post-graduation career and life choices, where you may be forced to take the highest paying job even if it is not the best one for your interests or long term career growth.
Colorado College isn’t the network you think it’s going to be for the environmental jobs you would be looking for right out of undergrad. ESF is a much better environmental network, especially for right out of school.
It looks like a good option to me to graduate debt free, and have access to courses at SU, which could fill in for those other options you are interested in. Most of what interests you would recuire a MA, so debt free would be key.
I also like the Cornell College option. One course at a time is great for environmental students because it allows you to be offiste for longer periods of time or to spend more time in labs.
Yeah I visited ESF but just really disliked the city + community (Syracuse students were not very nice and I have issues at my current school). I feel like I may transfer home which is really not ideal.
I’m definitely going to look into Cornell college now!
I’m planning on working during school to pay the 7k (I have had a job all 4 years of high school) + my parents would pay if I miss payments and I would pay them back
I talked with a lot of staff member and people from the office of admissions at the admitted students day about career outcomes; I really am not interested in working for the state and want to work in private industry (which they said was difficult to do from suny)
I’m mostly likely going to choose SUNY or Boulder (depending on scholarships) because I just would rather not go in state
I agree on CC - I’d love to go but it’s not a good idea at all 
. Thanks for the well wishes, I have a much better idea of what to do now 
Thank you so much! I’d like to go to a school that’s less specialized than SUNY so Cornel college looks like a great option 
I’m just not entirely sure of my major at the moment and would need to figure that out before committing. Thank you for the insight though - SUNYs construction management program is def something on my mind!
I hope those are good scholarships. For undergraduate, the bank account tells you where you get to go to school. When you get the financial aid packages, study them carefully. If you/your parents have to take out large amounts of debt to afford tuition, you can’t afford it. You’d be far better off starting at community college than to commit to something that’ll put you in debt for your entire career.
I will hopefully get something - I qualified for the honors program and applied for quite a few. My parents would also not need to borrow any money, my dad would just want me to pay him back. I would go to SUNY instead of community college because my parents would pay in full but I totally get your point about debt!
Chiming in here to say our family loves Colorado College - we have a kid there who is engaged, happy, thriving, challenged, and connected to community; we also have several friends who are alumni, many who discuss their “transformative experience” at CC, and all of whom are in employed in such diverse careers from MD to teacher/academic chair to CFO for an outdoor gear company to software engineer to director of an environmental education center. None “struggled,” or had to become a realtor (which actually isn’t the worst career outcome if you ask me). But.. and this is a big BUT - I am of the opinion that no school is worth being in debt (even to your parents) for the sum you have stated. Go someplace where your debt will be minimal, in that I do agree with other people who’ve responded to your post. Edited to add: if you like the Block Plan (and there’s a lot to like) I think it’s worth it to check out Cornell College.
Unfortunately Colorado College is not affordable for the OP.
I didn’t say it was and I believe I stated it was clearly not the best option for OP. But I didn’t want to let the disparaging comments upthread stand, especially since there isn’t much info about CC (the college) on CC (the website).